”Miraculous, miraculous!” exclaimed Geneva coach Jerry Auchstetter.
Geneva, trailing Morris the entire game, scored on a 42-yard flea-flicker with 35 seconds left to stun the defending Class 4A champions 27-21 Friday night.
Geneva quarterback Tim Cottier threw to the coach`s son, Steve Auchstetter, who lateraled to running back Derek Swanson at Morris` 35-yard line. Swanson streaked untouched down the sideline to give Geneva (6-0, 4-0)
the Little Seven Conference victory. Morris is 4-2, 2-2.
Swanson, who rushed for 135 yards in 20 carries, was asked how he felt about the incredible comeback. ”I`m hurting enough, I can feel everything,” he said. ”I saw one guy ahead of me, and I angled to the right. The lateral was right where anybody would want it.”
It looked bleak for Geneva two plays earlier when the Vikings punted to Morris with 1 minute 31 seconds left. But Geneva`s Matt Dean recovered a Morris fumble on the next play, and the winning touchdown followed.
”It`s called on the sideline,” Coach Auchstetter said, ”but I had some help. Somebody said, `How about the flea-flicker?` I think it was Cottier who said it. It just worked perfect. The execution couldn`t have been better.
”It looks like we bend, bend, bend and even break a little, but we always come back. This is the wildest finish ever for us. It`s a big win beating Morris anywhere. They`re a good football team. You`ve got to be prepared to beat them.”
Geneva was behind 21-12 in the fourth quarter when another Morris mistake set up the Vikings` third touchdown. Morris fullback Mike Feeney fumbled a punt inside his 5-yard line, and Geneva`s Charlie Duffy recovered on the 4 with 9:14 remaining. Cottier scored on the next play to make it 21-19 after Jeff Wagner kicked the extra point.
Cottier completed only 2 of 6 passes, but both went for TDs. The first one was a 62-yarder to Matt Cesarone that left Morris ahead only 7-6 in the second quarter. Cottier also tossed a 2-point conversion pass to Steve Auchstetter after the flea-flicker.
”The thing about it is, we manhandled them the whole game and then give them the game,” said Morris coach Dan Darlington. ”That`s just stupid. The defense played as hard as it could. The offense just gave them the game.”
Swanson`s 67-yard TD run on the first play of the second half cut Morris` lead to 14-12. Morris put together a 57-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard scoring run by quarterback Dennis Maskel on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Redskins their 21-12 lead.
Maskel wound up completing 10 of 23 passes for 140 yards and one TD.
